40 Days of Night

No Booze, No processed Food or else!

One of my long time and quite awesome client/friend (for the sake of anonmity let's call her Alice) was talking about going vegan for Lent.
Being the kind of guy that likes a good challenge I immediately offered to join in that fun but not before putting in my two cents on going vegan. (Not knowing Alice, you would have no way of knowing her diet was damn near vegetarian and she is quite a responsible human that does more than her part with respect to sustainable farming, fishing and what have you.)

Soooo.....after my usual, I love red meat, anti vegan, pro fish eating vegetarian (pescetarian) rant I convinced her to rethink those 40 days of sacrifice and maybe do something that was actually hard. No booze and no processed anything of any kind, kind of hard.
Yup, nothing ingested that you can't make 100% by your own hands.
 I will also be limiting my sugar and starch (aside from fruit). We will both have cheat days set aside only for very special occasions during the 40 days of night.

"What the hell does all this have to do with your silly title?"You ask.
That night I tell my lovely wife my plans for Lent and invite her to join in. She reminds me that I don't celebrate Lent...what to do other than look to one of America's finest actors, Josh Hartnett.
Yes, I'll combine 2 of his finest works, 30 Days of Night and 40 Days and 40 Nights.
"What's the connection?".
Like Mr. Hartnett must resist ravishing the beautiful and talented Shannyn Sossamon in 40 Days & 40 Nights I must also resist the urge to ravish a burger at my favorite restaurant. And like the mighty ancient vampires in 30 Days of Night, who love the taste of their favorite Alaskan villagers blood, I too love the taste of sweet sweet craft beer and wines of red. But alas, Josh Hartnett says Nay and I yield as to not be dispatched of like the poor vampire clan....for now. (Sequel?!?)

Why I wanted to do this challenge-
Really, I just need challenges and goals to keep myself on track. I know, I usually eat pretty darn healthy. I slip up from time to time as a human enjoying life should. I  post stuff about ascetic goals being silly and tell folks to set performance based goals and not goals for getting "the look" of fitness. At the end of the day if you think you look good, you feel good, and that does help athletic performance so it's all good.

Find your reason to make a sacrifice for personal growth, be it tradition or  just goal oriented fun like mine....Saith the mighty Josh Hartnett....Not really.
Saith the Genius,
Cheers!

OH, And for those who doubt the greatness of Josh Hartnett, shame on thee. Go watch the 2 movies listed and maybe the best of all, Lucky Number Slevin. Thank me later.

Best Diet Ever?!

Not really a diet of smoothies.

The FitBlender Diet is the Best Diet in the WORLD!
This claim is just plain crazy. "Diet" is one of the hardest subjects to generalize or actually proclaim a single plan or lifestyle as "best" or "universal".
This is the "diet" I follow myself (most of the time) and give to anyone who asks for dietary guidelines. Like everything FitBlender, this diet is based on personal and social experimentation not  "a new scientific discovery," "fat burning aids" or whatever is hot right now.

Due to the amount of unique body types, physiology, efficiency and digestive differences, it's rather silly to even attempt to claim a single dietary strategy will work for everyone.
All that being said, we'll just  do as we did with exercise plans - mix all the quality true science "good" stuff and remove the fad based extreme  "bad" - mix it up to make our own simple to follow diet plan. It's not fast or easy, and it's certainly not for everyone. No marketing, no quick weight loss stories, no supplements, no fake or sponsored scientific studies. Just intelligent eating (99% of the time) with positive results, period.

Diet and Exercise go hand and hand. Though weight loss is mostly in the kitchen, those who exercise on a regular basis tend to make better choices on what to eat. The idea that "I workout so I can eat whatever I want" is a crap shoot (genetic). If you are already efficient then you likely could eat poorly without noticeable weight gain. This only relates to looks not overall health. As for overall health, all bodies hate processed garbage food at least in the long term. Exercise will quell some of the ill effects of that bad food but is no guarantee you won't have issues other than  weight gain at some point.
Understand, I love food, all food, but portion size and weekly intake should be very very regulated. When you do eat those"bad" foods make sure you can or have worked out around that time. Your body is less likely to store fat when it thinks it needs the nutrition for immediate fuel.

There is no perfect way to eat.  I'm very realistic about how much marketing, time, work, life in general effects how we eat. I'll never say "don't ever eat this again" but take the realistic approach of "eat this as little as possible." Specialized marketing and addictive food additives motivate most of our food purchases. Limiting the intake of such foods will noticeably change how you feel and perform as an athlete.

Weight Loss and Maintenance
All simple instruction from here - 28 days of strict eating, once a year- After that it's OK to add back in some of the items on the "limited lists" once in a while.

• 4 weeks without processed foods is the perfect start to changing your diet.
• Eat nothing you can't make 100% yourself for those first 28 days. 
• Keep a food journal writing down everything you eat and at what time.
• No added sugars of any kind especially fake sugars- stevia is OK after first 4 weeks
• Eat 3-5 small meals. If 3 meals, eat til full - if 4-5 eat a meal the size of your fist every 2 or so hours.
• Always eat breakfast- Coffee and a fruit and nut smoothie is good enough but high protein is best.
• No bread or white starches of any kind. Ie.- corn- rice- regular potatoes- oats- grains of any kind
• Eat all the fruit, veggies, nuts, eggs and meats you want (Try to buy organic as often as possible.)
• Limit your dairy from very little to none- Butter or cream in very small amounts are OK must be organic, pastured or "European style".
• Fats are your friend- Olive oil, nuts, egg yolks, avocados etc. should be 30% of your daily intake. (Vegetable/peanut/soybean oil are a no-no but Coconut and Olive oil are a big YES!)
• Crazy as it sounds, no "health foods" like legumes (peanuts, beans) and quinoa- just first 4 weeks.
• After those 4 weeks are up it's OK to enjoy a cheat meal once or twice a week. This meal should be eaten right after or just before a major workout- adding psyllium husk fiber and coffee or tea (natural caffeine) to, before or even after the meal is also a good idea as it will limit the bad fat and sugar storage and promote glycogen replenishment.
• Red wine, craft beer and fine booze of all kinds can be your friend if kept to 1 or 2 drinks on 1 or 2 nights a week at most. Alcohol acts just like sugar in the blood so treat it like a cheat item.

The list below will help you keep a basic idea of what is OK for those first 4 weeks. The "very limited" and "limited" lists are off limits during said first 4 weeks.

Always Good - Eat full servings 3-5 times a day.
OK - Once a day 1 small serving a day max, 2 after the 4 week is up.
Limit - Eat once or Twice a week max- Can Not Have These during first 4 weeks.
Very Limited - Almost never, cheat meal once a week max- NONE for first 4 weeks.

Meat
Always Good- 6-12oz per meal- Free Range Eggs, Red Meat, Game, Wild Caught Fish, Free Range Chicken or Turkey-Local Seafood.
OK- All non free range, organic, pastured or wild caught meat, fish and eggs.
Limited- Sausage, chopped meats, uncured deli meats, packaged pre-cooked natural meats/ hot dogs.
Very Limited- Canned meats like corned beef, tuna or cured meats like sandwich meats, ham, bacon or beef jerky (unless you make it yourself or is nitrate free) = no no for 4 weeks and is on the very limited list below.

Veggies   -Fresh or Frozen organic is best-
Always Good- (you can eat almost anything green, 6-12oz per meal)- kale, spinach, all greens, broccoli, green beans, brussels sprouts, cabbage, green squash, all peppers, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, lettuces, Asian cabbage, chard, avocado .
OK- peas, snow peas, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes/yams, cauliflower, cooked carrots, jars of natural veggies, root veggies cooked, beets.
Limited- Canned veggies from above.
Very Limited- potatoes white or purple.

Fruit  -Don't be afraid to eat fruit but still limit yourself to 1 piece per meal for first 4 weeks-
Always Good- green apples, pears, oranges, tomatoes, apples.
OK- bananas, grapes, berries of all kinds, kiwi, peaches, plums, melons, pineapple, papaya, fresh made juice.
Limited- canned/ jarred fruit no sugar added, dried fruit -packaged.
Very Limited- Juice- bottled or not made fresh by you, candied fruit.

Other  -Fats and Fun-
Always Good- Nuts (not peanut)1-2oz per meal, Coffee and Tea (1 small cup per meal), Coconut oil and olive oil to cook with and to spice food up- Ghee or clarified organic butter (a little goes a long way so don't go crazy)1/2 teaspoon at most per meal,
OK- Seeds like chia, flax or sun flower (1-2oz), dark chocolate(no sugar or soy added), real honey(a drop or 2), legumes (beans and peanuts- once in a while, small serving), pickled stuff.
Limited- (organic) butter, goat cheese, sour cream (1-2oz ,super small amounts if any), yogurt  (Greek organic), organic milk, quinoa, steel cut oats, any all natural product that doesn't have ingredients you can't pronounce.
Very Limited- All the stuff you know isn't that great for you- Bread and pastries and candy oh my!

Extra Credit

Duration- 3 to 6 days, 2 times a year (every 6 months)
Juicing-  Use a juicer to make fresh veggie juice- drink 3-6 full glasses a day. (drink water too)

Best Recipe-
1-2 bunches of kale, 1 bunch spinach- (3-5oz), 2-4 carrots, 1/2 a cucumber, 1-2 celery stalks, 1 green apple, 1-2 inch piece of ginger- add water or green tea.

I personally use the kale and carrots from the collection tray to make a soup and eat a bowl or two a day to get fiber in me cleaning out the system. Not a part of a typical juice cleanse but part of mine.
Add organic chicken stock, water, (kale leftovers, carrot leftovers) (from the juicer) in a stock pot and cook only until it boils for just a few minutes, let cool and eat.

Weight Gain

(Yes, some people want to gain weight)

This is much easier than most supplement companies would have you believe. Though you should use a protein supplement and maybe creatine at normal doses it's hardly a requirement to gain lean mass. 

Two things you must do:

1. Eat Eat Eat. Tons of protein plus normal servings of fats, veggies and carbs.  Just eat real food, all you can, every 2-3 hours. And yes, right before bed.
2. Slow down your workout. Less endurance training aka long span cardio. More heavy controlled lifting. Body Building style lifts done ultra slow (count 5-10 secs in both directions) and take large set breaks. Workout every other day and make sure your muscles are worn out before you leave the gym. (Not hit by a truck worn out but a solid "pump" for sure).

Like all things health and fitness, Check with your doctor before starting a new diet or exercise program. After that, get on it.

Expand your brain and do your own experiments using some of the same reading material I did. (no, I don't get any money if you buy them from my links just making it easier to find.) My favorites:

It Starts With Food- by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig- This popular version of the paleo diet was somehow ranked the worst diet of 2013 and I couldn't agree with USA Today and Yahoo News less. The argument was that carbohydrates were necessary....my guess is the writer of the article didn't know fruit and sweet potatoes are carbs?!?!?

The 4 Hour Body- by Tim Ferriss- The slow-carb diet is all about beans...well tons more, so buy and read  this book. It's not  just a diet book by any means and was a fun read.

Other things to look up info on: South Beach Diet, Paleo, Keeping a Food Journal, Organic Food, Vegan Diet, Vegetarian Meals 1 day a week, Raw food diet, Atkins. (I'm not a fan of a few of these but some present interesting arguments, it's always good to keep a balance of perspectives.)

If you want to learn more about Fitness in general please stop by the FitBlender.com Training Center in the Golden Hill area of San Diego or ask in the comments section/email and I'd be happy to further expand.

Cheers,
The FitnessGenius-
FitBlender.com Training Center
2323 Broadway ste#107
San Diego, CA 92102
619-800-FIT1(3481)
Fitblender.com

New Years Resolution of Fitness

The New Year is here and once again resolutions to get in shape are made. But how, how do you get in shape? What does "in shape" even mean? Well, I'll tell you. It all starts with small reachable goals set in realistic time lines based on science, not silly word play and fad based workouts. The plans, equipment and all our other members play a part in the road to achieving your fitness goals.
We help athletically develop "fitness nuts", marathon runners, triathletes, cyclists, members of just about every team sport you can think of and of course those who just want to find that "in shape" we all hear about. Please don't confuse in-shape or fitness with weight loss. Losing weight is 80% nutrition. I realize most small gyms and personal trainers make their living off weight loss. We give all our members the simplest dietary guidelines depending on their needs.

We've seen and heard quite a few people get the "fear bug" or "intimididous" as we call it. No need to fear our little fitness center. We really do want to help you reach your fitness goals no matter how hard they may seem. It's as simple as coming in and doing a few beginners classes just to see how much fun sweating, sore muscles and getting stronger can really be. We'll even make the cost hard to ignore.
4 private training sessions and a month of unlimited classes for a single Ben Franklin ($100). No contracts, hard sales or Sargeant Madface barking at you. Just real plans and real motivation to reach real fitness goals.

Survival of the fittest takes on a whole new meaning in these classes!

Don't let this guy get you!!!

When the "walkers" start running and biting, will you be fast food or fast enough not to be food?
Jogging won't be enough to get away, you'll need to jump over obstacles, be able to change direction at the drop of a hat, sprint in spurts and push through hoards of the undead.
With our special Zombie Fitness Training (ZFT), you'll be prepared when, not if, the dead get up, start walking and try to take a bite out of your noodle.
The ZFT workout will have you pushing heavy weight just like you will have to when raiding stores for food or pushing your car to start when the battery dies. We will also work your arms and back to assure you can keep those teeth out of your flesh when holding zombies off, swinging a bat or pipe or whatever you can find or just punching the old dead buggers right in the ear. Last but not least, we work those legs really hard so you'll be able to run, jump, juke, jive and move faster than those rotting corpses will ever be able to keep up with.
This set of classes will run from October 24th through the 31st, Weekdays 6pm through 8pm and Saturday 10am to Noon. The cost is a mere $5 to just drop in. You don't need to come right at the start time, show up anytime between the scheduled class time 6-7:30pm (always show up at minimum 30 minutes before the class is scheduled to end). If you succeed and survive the class we will offer you 25% off any of our memberships!

ReBuilding ME

This post is going up before I'm cleared to even touch weights of any kind but I figured I would get a plan laid out so you folks can see my metamorphosis as it happens.

Goals: Regain wrist mobility to 90% or better, learn to use my shoulder as if it didn't lose 3 ligaments, lose 35lbs of fat and muscle I never really needed all in 6 months time.

For those who don't know, I was in a Car vs Bicycle fight almost 3 months ago.... the losing side "Team Bicycle". This accident resulted in me having a compound fracture in my left arm at the wrist area, a grade 3 ac joint separation in my right shoulder and some pretty nasty road rash, cuts, bruises and what have you. My left radius head (the bone on the thumb side of the arm) was put back together with a plate and some screws. My shoulder is a much harder to fix injury so my surgeon advised me to do physical therapy and wait and see if surgery is a must. I was told I could do nothing, not even P.T for 2 months. I'm not going to act like I didn't fall into deep depression on some days and eat my way out. This coupled with the inability to do any exercise put a few pounds on me while I was also losing quite a bit of muscle mass.

Now that I'm doing P.T I'm feeling a lot better and am learning what my body is and is not ready to do. I test myself weekly doing not so dangerous body weight exercises that would have been ridiculously easy before the accident but now might as well be a 500lb squat. I have given myself a timeline of 6 months to get back whatever I've been told I could in a year....without hurting myself in the process of course. The plan is not to work my injuries to some new found strength level but more redefining what can be done with these new problems while figuring out just how far I can safely push myself. I may have to quit the sports I love temporarily and find new sports along the way but I'm never quiting all together.

The plan at this point and beyond-
Now- 4-19-13 to 6-15-13: (Running and PT)
I had a mud run scheduled for June 15th and thought for sure I would need to drop out. To my surprise the Doc said nothing of the sort and I am cleared to run in small doses for now. For me 3 miles of trail is exhausting and the race is 6 and some change miles (10k). I have a total of 7 weeks to train and have already done 3 of them. 1 mile still gets my wind gone and 2-3 miles kills the legs. I do PT 2 times a week and run 3 times a week. This week I'm adding a day of running and more hill sprints in the 3 mile runs. I use the tabata protocol for the most part as I've seen my best gains doing sprints followed by slow jogs in a 4:1 ratio. Though one of my favorite and long time runner clients catches shit from me for her 10 minute mile pace on trail, I must admit I'm doing no better. 3 miles is killing me and my shoulder aches for days for my efforts.

After the race I will ask my PT and Doc if I can start volumetric training mixed with slow light weight lifting to add some muscle back to my frame. In theory I should be rather light by mid July (215lbs) and will want to add a solid 5 to 10 lbs of muscle over 3 months.
The Plan: July through Oct-
Day1- Volumetric lifts- reps of 100 light weight- rows of any type, chest press of any type, squat or heavy leg movement of any type.-reps of 8 to 10 med/heavy weight- Row, press, squat- 3 minutes of planks.
Day 2- Hike, walk, light jog or rest.
Day 3- Slow rep 6-8, 5 sets of each- Star squat and press, full shoulder complex (internal,external rotation, lat raise and lower, rev fly), RDLs, jack knives, supermans. 7 secs up and down for all.
Day 4- Rest or hike, walk, swim if cleared.
Day 5- Volumetric- 100 reps- side slide lunge, lat pull, inverted push ups+push up plus- 6-8 reps, 3 sets- push ups, sumo squats, hanging rows- 100 bicycles+ 30 scorpions.
Day 6- Rest, hike, jog.
Day 7- swim if cleared.

This plan works only if I can get my shoulder to track properly by July and my wrist is working way better than it is now (85% or better). Pending clearance from my PT and Doc, swimming will be the best way to gain shoulder mobility without to much impact. I did not list it but I will continue to do 2-3 days a week of PT( Wrist mobility and strengthening, shoulder stability and strengthening). I'll update every month starting 6-1-13 below this paragraph.

The FitBlender.com Training Center Is Officially Open!

Get In Here!

Week 1- Rubberize floor + Move in the
adjustable cable machine.

An amalgamation of all things fitness (less the silly fad based non scientific garbage of course) wrapped into one pretty awesome little neighborhood gym.
The FitBlender.com Training Center will not only serve as the testing ground for the FitBlender web based program but will strive to be the most progressive, innovative and challenging fitness program of any athletic training center.



Week 2-3Kingson helping with the astro turf lane.









This is a work in progress and will continue to be, just as it should be.  Step #1 was getting this place staged just right. Lets take a trip through this month of fun and not so fun's build out.



The Racks are in and just 1 day before opening!

After all the hard work the gym is looking fly.




Thanks to all my friends, family and my great neighborhood for all the current and future support!

-Genius

Back to Business

After a summer of zero visits to the gym, I thought it may be time to put work in and gain some good old muscle. Let's try a simple plan featured in MnF that is loosely based in volumetric and overload training.

For the next 6-8 weeks I will only hit the gym 3 times a week and for an hour or less each visit.
Lets call this one "Monkey wrench muscle builder".

Day 1-
Try to get all 100 reps in a row, 10 sec brakes if you can't. 2 min break between sets.

Seated Cable Row- 100 reps x 2 sets -me 90lbs
Dumbbell Press- 100 reps x 2 sets -me 25lbs
Squat Press- 100 reps x 2 sets - me 225lbs
Rack Pull- 6-8 reps x 3 sets - me 315-405lbs
Barbell Pin Press- 6-8 reps x 3 sets- me 185-225lbs
Barbell Front Squat- 6-8 reps x 3 sets- me 135lbs

Day 2-
Seated Lat Pull- 15 min total- 3 reps - 10 sec brake- repeat- me 120lbs
Seated Incline Press- 15 min total - 3 reps - 10 sec brake- repeat- me 135lbs
Squat Machine- 15 min total- 3 reps - 10 sec brake- repeat- me 500lbs

Day 3-
Pyramid lifts, complete full pyramid set then take a 2 min break- Repeat sets 3x
Pull Ups with weight - 5 reps+25lbs- 3 reps+45lbs- 1 rep+60lbs
Dumbbell Press- Inclined- 5 reps 70lbs- 3 reps 80lbs- 1 rep 85lbs
Front Barbell Squat- 5 reps 135lbs- 3 reps 225lbs- 1 rep 245lbs

Results-
After 10 weeks I definitely adapted to the reps of day 1 and the weight of days 2 and 3. I put on a solid 8lbs of base muscle and felt not only stronger but after not running at all for 2 months, ran 5 miles with little trouble. This is a great "monkey wrench" when you are getting to repetitive with your workout.

Come try it out at Fitblender.com Training Center
-Genius